The Stock Market Is Doing Something We’ve Never Seen Before (EP. 463)
May 6, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe stock market is doing something with no historical precedent. The four largest technology companies—Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google—are together expecting to spend 77% more on capital expenditures in 2025 than they did in 2024, which was itself a record year. That means these four firms alone will spend roughly $725 billion. Meta’s quarterly capex went from $6.4 billion two years ago to $19 billion today. And yet, despite this staggering increase in spending, Meta’s net cash provided by operating activities rose from $19 billion to $32 billion over the same eight quarters. The companies are not just spending; they are generating more cash while spending more than ever.
The Quadrant That Shouldn’t Exist
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:03) **Paul Tudor Jones Interview & Investor Personality** - Ben and Michael discuss takeaways from a Paul Tudor Jones interview, focusing on how investor personality drives market predictions.
- 2 (06:23) **Stock Market Valuation vs. "Over-Equitization" Argument** - Michael pushes back on Jones's claim that America is "over-equitized" and that high valuations guarantee poor forward returns.
- 3 (09:07) **Mag 7 Earnings: "The Quadrant That Shouldn't Exist"** - The hosts analyze the blockbuster Q1 2026 earnings from the largest tech companies, highlighting unprecedented growth at massive scale.
- 4 (13:29) **AI CapEx Boom: Spending Like Never Before** - The hosts examine the staggering capital expenditure plans of the largest tech firms, all-in on AI infrastructure.
- 5 (17:43) **Anthropic's Explosive Growth & Unprecedented Scale** - Ben highlights a striking stat about AI company Anthropic's revenue trajectory.
- 6 (18:56) **S&P 500 Doubled From 2022 Lows; TLT Still in Drawdown** - A quick check on two major asset classes shows starkly different outcomes.
- 7 (21:05) **Gasoline Prices: Rocket Up, But Context Matters** - Michael and Ben discuss the rapid rise in gas prices and whether it threatens the consumer or stock market.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
On episode 463 of Animal Spirits, Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson discuss: Paul Tudor Jones on market valuations, how many people own stocks, mind-boggling numbers from the hyperscalers, a lost decade for bonds, why higher gas prices sting, some macro prediction rules, government debt levels, Jevon's Paradox, prediction market winners and losers and much more.
This episode is sponsored by Grayscale and Janus Henderson Investors.
- To learn more, visit https://www.grayscale.com/
- For more information, visit https://www.janushenderson.com/securitizedmarkets
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Find complete show notes on our blogs:
Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense
Michael Batnick’s The Irrelevant Investor
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Investing involves the risk of loss. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be or regarded as personalized investment advice or relied upon for investment decisions. Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson are employees of Ritholtz Wealth Management and may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this video. All opinions expressed by them are solely their own opinion and do not reflect the opinion of Ritholtz Wealth Management.
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